Last fall we got our hands on a draft for Aaron Sorkin's latest television show, set inside the world of a 24-hour-news network, and got very excited. As fans of Sorkin's work (especially SportsNight and The West Wing) this new, still untitled show, seemed like the perfect outlet for the writer's voice in every way that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was not. So today when word finally broke that HBO had picked up the show, we breathed a deep sigh of relief. more ›

Are the Decemberists coming to Broadway? Maybe! In a recent Billboard interview vocalist/guitarist Colin Meloy discussed the prospect and pointed out that he grew up doing theater. Further, “it happens that the director Michael Mayer, who directed Green Day’s American Idiot musical on Broadway, is the guy that got me going about doing a musical...We’re still talking and there’s potential for a musical down the line, for sure.” Okay, we're not going to hold our breath then, but still—that'd be fun. And while we're thinking about bands making musicals, we wonder what ever happened to the planned Aaron Sorkin-scripted musical of the Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots... [via Stereogum] more ›

MOVIE: MoMA is currently running a retrospective on Joan Blondell, titled The Bombshell from Ninety-first Street. Trace the metamorphosis of the Manhattan-born actress from a young blonde bombshell to...a blonde bombshell in more mature roles! Tonight you can catch her in Blondie Johnson (1933) and Nightmare Alley (1947). more ›

READING: Dave Eggers has delivered two (out of three) great novels, and tonight he reads from last one (which is just out on paperback), What is the What. He'll be at the Strand discussing the book and he'll also give a slideshow presentation from a recent trip he took to Sudan. More info here. Friday // 7pm // Strand Bookstore [828 Broadway] // Free EVENT: We love a good pillow fight, and tonight there's a... more ›

Unnamed sources are telling the Daily News and The Post that a deal between the stagehands’ union and Broadway producers is within reach. The two sides have an agreement on the main sticking point, the dispute over the number of stagehands required for a show’s “load-in” and are currently negotiating salaries. As one source put it, "Everybody is confident we can finally get this done." There’s even optimism that some shows affected by the strike... more ›

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In advance of an official press conference at The Palace Theater today, The Times and The Post have reported that Spike Lee will be make his Broadway debut next spring with the 1951 play Stalag 17; a dramedy about camaraderie and betrayal between American airmen stuck in a German P.O.W camp (later made into a film by Billy Wilder.) Sources say that Clive Owen will once again be Spike’s inside man on the project. (Though Mark Wahlberg is also in the running.) more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

Wayne Coyne recently told EW that the Flaming Lips 2002 album "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" will be hitting Broadway in the future. Not too unusual given the bands often colorful and outrageous stage shows. Not only will we see the album come to life, but Aaron Sorkin will be teaming up with band to make it a reality. more ›

Even though the network media upfronts don't mean anything - except to advertisers - because schedules can be shuffled and shows killed between now and fall, Gothamist is still excited, because it's about hope (Tina Fey's new show to be good, Veronica Mars to be picked up) and new seasons of shows we love (The Office, My Name is Earl...and, heck, we can't help but watch Grey's Anatomy). Anyway, there are a lot of NYC-set shows coming in the fall season; NBC has Kidnapped and The Black Donnellys. Things we're wondering about: more ›

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What would Lynne Truss say? more ›